I didn’t look at Considine until he entered my line of sight, arm in arm with a petite blonde woman whose mischievous smile I’d recognize anywhere.
Hazel Medeis. She’d talked to the night shift task force about the House Tellier wizards. She was also Killian’s wife.Which explains what Considine meant when he said he was looking for leverage.
“Family, allow me to introduce Hazel Medeis—Killian’s wife, and his One.” Considine beamed down at Hazel like a proud father—still arm in arm with her.
Hazel smiled. “I’m so excited to meet you all.”
Baldwin stabbed a finger in her direction. “We already knew ofyourexistence. Considine, explain the slayer!” He turned so his finger pointed at me.
“That is my darling slayer. Don’t tell me Killian didn’t give you her name?” Considine feigned surprise.
“Elder Maledictus,” Killian said between clenched teeth. “I’m sohappyyou’re here. Can you tell me what events inspired you to bring my wife with you?”
Considine’s smile turned predatory. “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t messed with mine.”
Killian raised both of his eyebrows in skepticism. “I messed with your partner, not your wife—which, in case you didn’t know, your partner isn’t nearly as taken with you as you are with her.”
“I. Know,” Considine said, his voice coming from deep in his chest.
I settled back into place, feeling steadier already.
Vampires were dramatic. All this posturing was good, actually.
“What is the meaning of this, Elder Maledictus?” Amée demanded. “You can’t possibly be pursuing a slayer!”
Considine slipped his arm out of Hazel’s grasp and motioned for her to join Killian. “Really? You didn’t seem all that upset about the idea when I first told you about her.”
“We thought you were lying!” Baldwin shouted.
“That’s your fault, not mine,” Considine said.
“Hello, Hazel.” Margarida approached Hazel, her smile warming her face as she ignored the others. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Little Killi!”
“Really? Little Killi has told you about me?” Hazel asked, her voice too innocent to match the smirk she was giving Killian.
I took a few steps back, exiting out of the conversation. If this kept up, I could get out to the front door and ask for a ride home from the guard vampires before they noticed I was gone.
“You revealed yourself to a slayer?” Auberi harped at Considine. “Why? Do you know the danger that could put us all in?”
“If you think slayers as a whole didn’t know of your existence and track it, you’re a fool,” Considine said.
“Aslayer.” Amée’s voice was back to a snarl. “You’re carrying on over aslayer, when for the past several centuries you’ve been so uncaring about our Family?”
I tried to take another step away, but Considine intercepted me, his cold fingers gently closing around my wrist. “Speak carefully, Amée,” Considine warned. “I won’t stand for any threats against her, even if you are Ambrose’s offspring.” He looked away from the Dracos children to eye me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “But I don’t think my family reacted badly anymore.”
“This is all empty dramatics,” Considine said. “Though the lot of them are so foul tempered, I don’t know if they will ever soften up. At least you’ll get Hazel as a consolation prize.”
“Soften up?” Baldwin asked. “You think we’re going to play along with this little charade of yours?”
“Yes,” Considine’s voice was dangerously pleasant. “Because if you don’t, I’llcommandit.”
This is going poorly, and I think it has a higher chance of imploding than Considine believes.
The Dracos children sounded accusatory, but they’d blurted out enough of their sincere feelings to make it obvious. I was right. They might not see Considine as their sire, but they certainly saw him as the leader of the Family.
Considine’s defense of me at their expense was bound to hurt them. I knew that from my training on vampire social and societal customs. Considine, seemingly, hadn’t caught on.
